ROUND 1: AJ Johnson - Poll Added

[FrieAaron]

That second part is not knowable.

As always, I think you have to have courage and draft your guy. You can't **** around and get cute with "value" and hope nobody else takes him. That's why we have Giannis and the Hawks have memories of Dennis Schroeder.

I do agree with this. Now it's time to watch an hour of highlights of the kid, squint, and tell myself "ahhhhh yes, of course I see it working out."

[Matches Malone]

Watch on YouTube

[ANTETOKOUNBROS]

I HATE US

[bucksfansince88]

AJ is going to surprise everyone! a good friend of mine, MKE Native, and a UWM alum was at the draft with him and his family and spent the last year with him in Australia getting him ready… he’s got good people around him and all the talent in the world! Reminds me of John wall a bit

[humanrefutation]

A lot of folks here are making an assumption that we could have taken a player at 23 that could have been a significant contributor next year. I just never saw that as very likely. Doc is going to prefer veterans and will hopefully be trying to work AJG and AJax into the rotation next year. It's likely that whoever we would have drafted at 23 would be spending a lot of time waiving towels and high fiving (and playing with the Herd). Whatever theoretical production that they could bring in the short term would likely be matched or exceeded by a minimum vet.

This draft being as weak as it is, I'll always take the guy with higher upside and longterm potential over a lower ceiling player who may not see much of the rotation either way.

So your saying a guy like Shannon had zero chance of given you any production during the regular season? I would bet you any money that Shannon has better chance of being better pro than AJ.

No, I did not say that.

You're entitled to your opinion on Shannon. I don't take issue with it. My point is that the Bucks picked the guy they thought they had a higher upside over the player who could theoretically offer more production now. I don't have a problem with that strategy, considering the circumstances I referenced.

[ANTETOKOUNBROS]

DJ Wilson, Marjon Beauchamp, Thon Maker, Rashad Vaughn ---> AJ Johnson

Same guy, different name. First round bust

[blazza18]

I genuinely do not enjoy anything Jon Horst says at all.

[ShootingtheJ]

I hope it turns out better than when OKC took Terrence Ferguson out of the NBL.

[msiris]

DJ Wilson, Marjon Beauchamp, Thon Maker, Rashad Vaughn ---> AJ Johnson

Same guy, different name. First round bust

Giannis is the last really good player the Bucks have drafted.

[ajb905]

https://www.nbadraft.net/players/aj-johnson/

[msiris]

We all know what he is. A project. He joins a long list of Bucks projects that have really panned out.

[ANTETOKOUNBROS]

We all know what he is. A project. He joins a long list of Bucks projects that have really panned out.

He is Horst's revenge for being denied DET POBO interview

[chonestown]

Say what you will about Horts

[drone3]

AJ is going to surprise everyone! a good friend of mine, MKE Native, and a UWM alum was at the draft with him and his family and spent the last year with him in Australia getting him ready… he’s got good people around him and all the talent in the world! Reminds me of John wall a bit

I'm on the AJ train... Feed us Intel

[Illawarra_Buck]

The situation:
AJ arrived at a Hawks club in turmoil. It's actually usually a benefit for a Next Star signing to end up at a **** club for guaranteed mins and opportunity - see Melo. We were definitely **** - make no mistake about that.

Unfortunately, coming off the back of a 3-25 season, no one was under more pressure than coach Jakomas. Can I blame the bloke? Nah, it was his livelihood afterall and he clearly thought the best pathway to his continued employment was to go with a lower risk, conservative approach. Maybe grind out a few wins.

Expectations were low. About as low as you could get really. Truthfully no one would have been surprised to see Jakomas' contract extended if we could just scrape our way to 2nd last.

It was in this context that gun sniper and combo guard Tyler Harvey was moved off ball. Ex 2-way Buck Justin Robinson returning from injury was given the reigns as the steady, experienced hand that was to keep coach JJ in a job.

Lack of opportunity for AJ was one of the things that had fans most perplexed. There was also a sense that powers that be in the league weren't happy. Why would young players commit to be Next Stars over college only to get zero burn?

Justin Tatum (Jayson's dad for those not up to date) took over mid season and got to work fiddling with the rotation. As the season turned around, Robinson was relegated to the bench role and there were back court minutes to be had. All of a sudden the conversation was about playoff rotation rather than player development. Ultimately those spare minutes increasingly became allocated to fan favourite Swiss army knife and ultimate glue guy, Will "Davo" Hickey. No one doubts this was a good idea, Hickey's D, hustle and one memorable O board, put back buzzer beater were integral to the fairytale run.

From what we saw, I don't think anyone doubts that AJ could have contributed as a rotation player but without coach Jakomas carving out a role for him early, he was just too young and unfamiliar with systems to be considered for available minutes over more experienced heads, especially as it started look as though we may be a post-season team.


His game:
I watched him scrimmage quite a few times when the Hawks were training at the Snakepit. You hear about his speed, smoothness and athleticism but you actually might not believe it til you see it ... he's fast, in kind of an indescribable way. He creates transition from nothing. Blink and it's over.

His shooting mechanics aren't great. Like everything he does, he gets it off super quickly with seeming ease but it definitely starts low and comes off up off the hip a bit.

The body is the big question mark. He has the right dimensions but the guy is pencil thin. He'd be absolutley bullied in the NBA. The question is to what degree can he bulk up without losing the remarkable aspects of his game.

He won't be slowing down wings any time soon - I saw Gary Clark feast on him during scrimmage a few times. But fronting up to seasoned professional guards like Harvey and Robinson he was able to hold his own. He definitely lacks the strength to fight through screens at the moment.

If i squinted maybe he didn't look totally like a boy playing amongst grown men ... maybe.

[Baddy Chuck]

Josh Primo minus the weirdo stuff?

[BallinBucks420]

in fairness to Horst all of his picks have been mid to late 1st rounders and in the NBA how many GMs are hitting on those picks year in and year out...Thon was a Hammond pick. same with rashad Vaughn(Jason Kidd rumor pick) so what Dj wilson was a bad pick but it happens when your drafting that late...Divencenzo was a great pick just to bad how that played out with injury..See what happens with Beauchamp this year but Horst said in presser he felt good about roster to take a swing here..im not gonna pretend ik anything about this kid but i like taking a shot here...from the little video i have watched on AJ Johnson so for there is a lot of upside here

[bucksfansince88]

https://youtu.be/E86qONcwem4?si=lriWSeIRv6qyHJ0l

[bucksfansince88]

https://youtu.be/IOGUcV7hH5o?si=oNdxZL5YMO9soGGa

[drone3]

https://youtu.be/IOGUcV7hH5o?si=oNdxZL5YMO9soGGa

Impressive workout vid... We gotta gem!

Ja and Fox came into the league skinny. Just gotta work with the dietics bulk up enough but maintain the lightning